I've recently been told by work Information Services that I cannot use my work laptop with T-Mobile Home Internet. Here is there response to my support request. T-Mobile's primary service called "5G Broadband" is not true wire-to-site broadband. While Cisco AnyConnect can work over 5G and other wireless connections, MTS does not recommend its usage unless absolutely necessary, and if you utilize a phone line such as Cisco Jabber call quality cannot be guaranteed.The issue is that while 5G can provide broadband level speeds and bandwidth wireless solutions, such as 5G, have a higher tolerance for "packet loss." Packet loss is when individual pieces of data are dropped/lost during transmission. For most applications this is a minimal issue that 5G speeds may render unnoticeable, but a live connection, such as the AnyConnect VPN or Voice Over IP phone services, will experience connection degradation or be completely disconnected forcing you to reconnect.This is not an issue MTS can mitigate. For this reason the only recommended Internet service types are fully wired based connections including DSL, Broadband, Cable, and Fiber Optic services. Does anyone have a suggestion on a way to work around this issue? It does not need to be perfect, but being able to work from home is essential, and if I can't use TMHI to do that… it would be a deal-breaker for me.

Hi Everyone, This is something I posted in another T-Mobile forum a while back. After putting some research into this, I believe I have found a solution (at least one that worked for me).PLEASE NOTE: PART OF MY SOLUTION IS USING MY OWN WIRELESS ROUTER ATTACHED VIA ETHERNET CABLE TO THE BACK OF MY HOTSPOT MODEM. THE INSTRUCTIONS I LEFT BELOW WILL NOT BE OF MUCH USE TO YOU IF YOU ARE NOT USING A WIRELESS ROUTER.This does not require much tech-savviness as I found what I needed from a YouTube video and a little googling on how to access the settings I needed, which I'll post a link to at the end of this. Basically, it's the MTU (Maximum Transmission Unit) settings that T-Mobile uses. You don't really have to know much about this other than how to find out how to change it, either on your computer or on your wireless router (if using a wireless connection). Most internet providers set their MTU size at 1500. This is more-or-less a standard most in the industry follow. From what I found, T-Mobile sets their MTU size at 1450. I'm not going to go into explanation on how this works; just know this is the problem. This tiny difference seems inconsequential, but can make or break your VPN connection. Unfortunately, it's on us as the customers to find our own solution(s) to this problem. This YouTube link gave me the information on how to check my MTU settings and change them on a Windows PC. This is a solution specifically for if you want to only change the MTU Size on individual PC's in your home. Ultimately, I did not change my MTU Size on my laptop, but the part of the video that helped me find the MTU Size was key to figuring this whole thing out. The link will take you directly a few seconds right before the spot you need to pay attention at begins: I'm not a Mac user and am not experienced with using them, but this is a link for all y'all Apple fanatics that I found while I was searching for a reason for this problem. It was the first article I came across that set me on the path to figuring out how to change my MTU setting. Hope it helps:https://amithkumarg.medium.com/resolved-t-mobile-home-internet-vpn-issue-2f5ca594c23eAnd, lastly, I use a TP-Link Wireless router. This link is for TP-Link device owners and shows you how to change the MTU Size. There's no way I can find links to all the different types out there. However every brand's settings are easily searched on Google, so good hunting to you and good luck: https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/faq/1134/I hope this helps some people. My issue is (self)resolved.

This exact same thing happened to me out of nowhere today; I've had everything working flawlessly since I switched to tmobile over a month ago from xfinity and now it will not accept my work's vpn. I will cancel my service immediately if this cannot be fixed; this can cost me my job.

This is insanely frustrating. I can't do half my job unless I sit in a cafe with broadband access or work from a friend's house. But the part that is infuriating is every time I call T-Mobile, I get different answers from different people. Call 1: "Can't do anything for ya. Sorry." Call 2: "We can get you to a higher tier of support who will be able to help if you can get us your VPN Settings from your IT Department." Call 3: "None of what call 2 is true. Sorry to say it, but they lied to you. There is no higher tier of support."I bet if I called a 4th time, I'd get another completely different answer. I had this totally fixed by changing the MTU size on my router and now, even changing it directly on my laptop makes NO difference. There really needs to be a fix for this. If I had access to any other ISP that wasn't worse than this, I'd drop this service instantly. Unfortunately, I'm stuck since I live in a rural area. I'll stop complaining now.

I can't believe T-Mobile support just flat out told me that their internet service is incompatible with a VPN! How can they advertise that I can use this for work at home with multiple high speed streams, but just conveniently neglect to let me know I can't use a VPN! No suggestions for solutions, he just offered to cancel my service immediately!

My company uses Cisco AnyConnect VPN. I've been having all the same issues mentioned in this thread and gone down the IT rabbit hole trying to remedy this issue. Finally found a knowledgeable T-Mobile technician that explained if personal or work VPN or systems are operating on IPv4 then you need to go into your T-Mobile home internet app > select network > click "+" to add network > name network > create password > select 2.4 GHz band > select WPA/WPA2 > WPA "TKIP & AES" > then save the new network and connect. Worked out my VPN issues and my security cameras are working now.

Unable to use T-Mobile Home Internet with work VPN, any suggestions?

g4sehow
Network Novice
Hace 2 meses
hjones wrote:

We were sent one of the new gateways, model TMO-G4SE but had the same problem connecting to an AWS VPN endpoint. The general Internet works great. The diligent phone tech support rep Marlin helped me try the 2.4 Ghz wlan change with no effect. I tried adjusting the MTU on the laptop interface as low as it could go but it had no effect. But if I set the equivalent on the VPN client so that the max segment size was 1280, down from 1500 for Ethernet, I can now connect. It is not as stable as the 4G hotspot from a competitive carrier but it mostly functions with the occasional tunnel drop and has a higher throughput.

Thank you for the post. Exact the same thing happen to me. would you please elaborate how to set equivalent on the VPN client so that the max segment size is 1280?
hjones
Network Novice
Hace 2 meses
We were sent one of the new gateways, model TMO-G4SE but had the same problem connecting to an AWS VPN endpoint. The general Internet works great. The diligent phone tech support rep Marlin helped me try the 2.4 Ghz wlan change with no effect. I tried adjusting the MTU on the laptop interface as low as it could go but it had no effect. But if I set the equivalent on the VPN client so that the max segment size was 1280, down from 1500 for Ethernet, I can now connect. It is not as stable as the 4G hotspot from a competitive carrier but it mostly functions with the occasional tunnel drop and has a higher throughput.
Ketch22
Newbie Caller
Hace 2 meses
Ketch22 wrote:

Gfiz247 wrote:

AJ1234 wrote:

My company uses Cisco AnyConnect VPN. I've been having all the same issues mentioned in this thread and gone down the IT rabbit hole trying to remedy this issue. Finally found a knowledgeable T-Mobile technician that explained if personal or work VPN or systems are operating on IPv4 then you need to go into your T-Mobile home internet app > select network > click "+" to add network > name network > create password > select 2.4 GHz band > select WPA/WPA2 > WPA "TKIP & AES" > then save the new network and connect. Worked out my VPN issues and my security cameras are working now.

THANK YOU!!! My company uses the same VPN and it worked perfectly until Monday, 1/22, probably the same change you experienced. I followed your guidance and it works perfectly. I'm back to the same full speed I had previously, maybe even faster, and now I have a second home network dedicated to work from home.

Trying this now, Makes sense and I can see this working. Similar to others that have posted about this, I have been on T-Mobile for 2 months and have not had an issue until a couple of days ago. I used this at our cabin and don't have traditional internet as an option. Previously I used a Verizon hot spot. That worked fine, but wanted to be able to use this to stream tv as well and there just isn't enough data with a hot spot. I won't be convinced otherwise, T-Mobile had to have changed something and doesn't like VPN's on their network.

Unfortunately, this worked for about an hour and back to losing connection.
Ketch22
Newbie Caller
Hace 2 meses
Gfiz247 wrote:

AJ1234 wrote:

My company uses Cisco AnyConnect VPN. I've been having all the same issues mentioned in this thread and gone down the IT rabbit hole trying to remedy this issue. Finally found a knowledgeable T-Mobile technician that explained if personal or work VPN or systems are operating on IPv4 then you need to go into your T-Mobile home internet app > select network > click "+" to add network > name network > create password > select 2.4 GHz band > select WPA/WPA2 > WPA "TKIP & AES" > then save the new network and connect. Worked out my VPN issues and my security cameras are working now.

THANK YOU!!! My company uses the same VPN and it worked perfectly until Monday, 1/22, probably the same change you experienced. I followed your guidance and it works perfectly. I'm back to the same full speed I had previously, maybe even faster, and now I have a second home network dedicated to work from home.

Trying this now, Makes sense and I can see this working. Similar to others that have posted about this, I have been on T-Mobile for 2 months and have not had an issue until a couple of days ago. I used this at our cabin and don't have traditional internet as an option. Previously I used a Verizon hot spot. That worked fine, but wanted to be able to use this to stream tv as well and there just isn't enough data with a hot spot. I won't be convinced otherwise, T-Mobile had to have changed something and doesn't like VPN's on their network.
MichelleEngler
Newbie Caller
Hace 2 meses
Your sales team LIES! This is not a true broadband solution as it does not support VPN connectivity. I am forced to cancel and go back to xfinity which I HATE but have no choice since I was lied to about how this t-mobile service works.
Elmojomo
Newbie Caller
Hace 2 meses

Katsper wrote:

...before switching back to Xfinity...

If you had Xfinity as an option, why on earth were you even considering cellular internet?
Katsper
Network Novice
Hace 2 meses
4TheMiddle wrote:

I should clarify my previous comment. The basic connectivity issue with VPNs was solved by the new G4AR gateway as I mentioned.

I just want to add that this is not the case for me, across two different VPN services. I have that gateway and I'm lucky if I can stay connected for more than 30 minutes at a time. I've also tried a myriad of issues as well as have talked multiple times to support.
This is such a pain. I'll be troubleshooting this further before switching back to Xfinity, if I find anything I'll be sure to update my comment, I just wanted to add another voice to the choir. Will absolutely be advising against TMHI because this issue in itself is just absurd, let alone how pervasive and long standing it is.
Elmojomo
Newbie Caller
Hace 3 meses
IDR wrote:

Elmojomo wrote:

I have the InseeGo FX3100 gateway/router.

Oh no! I wish I saw this comment before calling up support. They are sending me this device. Has there been any improvements since you last post?

Actually, yes!
I was able to get pretty much all my issues resolved. I now have a solid 'VPN' connection to my office, and I'm a fairly happy customer. I didn't report back my results here, since my setup and situation is so niche, I was afraid that my solution would just end up confusing the issue for those who are having other problems.
In my case, the resolution was related to how Tailscale was communicating between its nodes, and the fact that my pfsense firewall/gateway was not properly configured to allow direct connections. Once I got that sorted out (using this link, in case anyone is in this same boat), I now have a pretty fast, stable connection to my office server. I don't have any way to perform actual speed tests to see if it's quite as fast as theoretically possible, but all my files transfer just fine, so I'm done digging.
I hope your experience with the FX3100 goes well. I'm pretty happy with the device. I like that I have full admin access, and can enable IP passthrough very easily, while maintaining GUI access. This allows me to use the FX3100 as a simple modem, and connect it to my firewall/gateway for all other network and security tasks within my facility.
4TheMiddle
Newbie Caller
Hace 3 meses
If you like the Inseego FX3100, here is a wall mount 3D print you might find handy.

https://www.printables.com/model/819909-cradle-for-inseego-fx2000-and-fx3100
4TheMiddle
Newbie Caller
Hace 3 meses
I should clarify my previous comment. The basic connectivity issue with VPNs was solved by the new G4AR gateway as I mentioned. However the speed issue with a VPN was not. For those locations with T-Mobile that needed more than 10-15Mbps of performance over a VPN we had to switch to other carriers. We spent a solid month trying to get reasonable performance out of the VPNs and T-Mobile and failed.

Several hours of tech support, multiple devices, multiple tower assignments, provisioning changes, etc.. We were going to try the 3100 gateway as mentioned, but they said the services under the hood are the same for all T-Mobile gateways now and it would not help so we did not try that one too.
The 3100 does give you access to run bridge mode with static IPs (sort of anyway) but the VPN issue they said was the same.
We never had success so I cannot comment on what happened earlier this year for others when it apparently was working.